Family Photos

Having family photos displayed in our house is really important to me.  I like for my kids to be able to look around and see themselves and the people we love.  There are photos in almost every room in our house. 


This array of photos is in our master bedroom. 


This is a favorite photo of my husband and myself, hung in the master bath.


My daughter has lots of photos on her walls like her baptism picture and her dance pictures. (please excuse the rotten photo, the light wasn't good in there.  Her walls are actually a really pretty light blue shown here)


In our office area we having an entire shelf with photos.  I take lots of pics of my kids and can't bear to not display them.  This long picture shelf works great. There is also I also a collage in an old window.  p.s. MAK are the first letters of each of my kids names.


These are our family pictures from last year, mounted on mat board, arranged on the ledge of the board and batten in our living room.


These built-ins in our eating area hold photos of extended family and my kids newborn baby pics.



We just had our 2011 family pics taken by my friend Shannon of Shannon Hairr Photography.  I love them so much and can't wait until my prints get here so I can add them to my collections around our home.

A little bit of Fall


It's that time of year! 


The days are a little shorter and the air is a little more crisp.


Time to bring out a few fall lovelies!


Not full fledged Halloween decorating yet.


Just a few fun, sparkly items to usher in the new season.


It's my favorite time of year!


sources:
antique sifter with last years family photos clothes pinned on:  purchased at an antique store a few years ago
small white pumpkin (left), bittersweet and orange flowers:  Michaels last year
wicker picnic basket, large brown candle holder, pitcher holding bittersweet, silver tray and candle stick(right), glass candle stick (spray painted black):  Goodwill
tall wooden candle holder: Ross
large Mercury glass Pumpkin:  TJ Maxx
small glass cake stand, black glittered pumpkin:  Hobby Lobby
orange glittery pumpkin (top):  dollar store pumpkin glittered by me
black and white polka dot pumpkin:  fabric mod podged onto small orange pumpkin
orange and white painted pumpkin (right): painted by me last year


Another birthday party

I'm knee deep in the middle of another birthday party.


A super hero party this time.


We were just going to have a family party for our little guy turning 4 but his feelings were hurt that he didn't get to have a friend party like his sister.  So we'll be playing and partying it up super hero style this weekend.  All I can say is that I should have planned the births of my children differently.  And I'll hopefully remember how tired and partied out I am right now and do something else next year.

Cupcake birthday party

So this little cutie turned 9


and we had a party!


A cupcake party!!  It was so much fun!


As the girls arrived they got to make cupcakes from foam kits.


And then they made hair bands and pins.


All of the girls were very creative (notice her hairband)...


and put their own spin on each of their projects!


Once the craftin' was done, they each put their aprons on and we did a little fashion show.  As you can tell, my little cutie loves to ham it up for the camera!



They had all worked up an appetite by then so we moved on to lunch.


We had sammy's on a skewer, (pieces of bread that were cut with a small cookie cutter, small pieces of cheese, ham, turkey, olives and pickles) which they LOVED...


apples and caramel dip, grapes and Doritos.


Then it was time for the main event- Cupcake decorating!  I baked 2 dozen each red velvet and golden vanilla cupcakes and whipped up a big batch of icing. I set out the icing, sprinkles, mini edible pearls, colored sugars and cupcake pics in small bowls.


Then they each grabbed 1-2 cupcakes, icing and all the decorations they wanted onto their plates and took them back to the table to decorate.



For the goodie bags, they were able to take home 2 decorated cupcakes.  In the empty holders in the cupcake box, they filled up cupcake liners with candy.



Here are a few more of the details:  the candy bar, plates and drink bar (the pitcher in the back right held pink lemonade)


cupcake liner centerpiece


the shelf tribute to the birthday girl. 

We all had a fantastic time!  And best of all, the birthday girl was thrilled and thanked me profusely!

A simple apron

My daughter's birthday is this weekend and she has chosen to have a cupcake decorating party.  Of course aprons are a must have.  After looking around a bit and not finding anything inexpensive enough to purchase 8 of them I decided to make them. 


I'm not much of a seamstress but I think they turned out ok.


I used flour sack towels, ribbon for the sash and super cute fabric from Hobby Lobby.
 

I cut each towel in half.


Then rolled the cut side over twice and pinned.  I didn't iron the seam down, it probably would have been easer if I had.  If there is a cheater way to do something, I'm all over it.  (perhaps that's why my projects don't always work out...hmm something to think about another time) 


I tucked  and pinned every 3-4 inches or so and then sewed the top and bottom of the folded seam.


Then I cut a 4 inch strip of fabric (I alternated the stripe fabric with the butterfly fabric shown above),


tucked and pinned it, then sewed a line a little to the top of center.


After everything was sewn, I washed and dried the aprons to fray the ruffles a bit.  Since I sewed the strip above the center line, it folded over and created a double ruffle.  A happy accident that ended up really working out.  I then ironed everything.  Pretty simple. Wish us luck that the party goes well and that my daughter's friends like the aprons and have a good time!

PS don't be jeaous of my polka-dotted pj bottoms!  :)

vinegar

I love to clean.  I know kinda crazy.  Cleaning products make me so happy.  I'm not really a "green" cleaner.  I love me some chemicals.  But I've been trying to at least think about the things I bring into my home so I've been doing a little experimenting with vinegar.  That stuff is amazing!!  I used it the clean the gunk around my faucets in the bathroom. 


Not a great picture, but you know the stuff that accumulates around the faucets.  Eeeewwww!! I soaked a paper towel in regular old white vinegar and put it all the way around the bottom of my faucet, where it touches the counter top.  I let it sit for a few hours.  When I came back to it, all the goop just wiped right off.  Just like magic!!

I've also soaked my shower heads in baggies of vinegar (attached with rubber bands) to have them come out so great that the water actually shoots straight. 

This website has lots of other great uses for vinegar.

 


Yesterday my shower was draining very s l o w l y.  So gross.  I didn't want to run to the store for Draino and frankly that stuff even scares the chemical loving me.  So I googled it and found this recipe for drain cleaner:  1/2 cup baking soda, 1/4 cup salt, 1/2 cup of vinegar,  and boiling water.   So I mixed the baking soda and salt and put them into the tub right near the drain.  Then I poured the vinegar over the top.  It's so cool to watch it bubble.  After waiting for a few minutes, I then poured about 4 cups of boiling water down the drain and left it.  A couple of hours later when I went to shower it was draining normally.  Yay!